Stanley (Red Wolf Book 2)

by Dawn, Crystal

  “I’ve already put in an offer. Howlington bank owns it and they want it off the list of repos. Maybe I’ll know tomorrow and we can get a fast closing. There’s a meeting with Marissa and Damon tonight.”

  “Reese told me. We should leave right now. Thank you ladies and we’ll keep you informed.” Stan concluded.

  Chapter 5

  Planning the Attack

  My beautiful mate never failed to surprise me. I don’t know what I would have done without her. She was taking care of the females, planning out their future based on what they wanted and needed. Rachel was also handling her own problems by facing them head on. Abs would be the one on the run and looking over his shoulder soon.

  We were on the way to Reese’s house now to meet up with Marissa and Damon. So much was happening at a fast pace, it was hard to keep up with. “I wish I’d known about the businesses. I could have warned the males in advance that they’d be working double shifts.”

  “To be honest, I was looking at the property for a while. I was going to use it for a living space for pack members who found jobs in Greyville for now and for a business when the opportunity presented itself. That happened this morning when I found out Kristen use to own a beauty shop. I also found out Maisy is the mother of one of the children. If Liza moves her sewing business in too, it leaves a room just big enough for Maisy and her daughter.”

  “You planned that out in a few hours? That’s unbelievable.”

  “I rarely have a problem making decisions.”

  “You’ve had trouble making one decision.”

  “That’s true, but it was such a big decision it seemed overwhelming. I just had to think about it in a different way.”

  “You’ve made a decision?”

  “I have.”

  “Do I have to pull it out of you?”

  She giggled like a schoolgirl. “I can’t live without you so I’m staying.”

  “Thank the goddess because I can’t live without you either.”

  We pulled into Reese’s driveway behind several other cars. It looked like Damon had brought an army. As soon as we stopped, Rachel hopped out without letting me help her. Both of us moved up the steps and I knocked on the door. It was opened immediately and we were ushered into the kitchen where a discussion was already in progress.

  Looking around the room I saw Damon and Marissa, Damon’s brother Adam and his pregnant mate, and Reese and Megan. There were also guards, but they weren’t taking part in the discussion, they were there for security.

  “You’re finally here.” Reese said with a huff.

  “I have to work for a living now. James squandered most of the pack’s money and none was coming in anymore. You have no idea what we’re dealing with.” I admitted.

  “I have a small idea. I talked to the ladies at the hospital and the DMV. James should have been tortured.” Reese offered.

  “I think the family is touched by madness. Any other close relatives should be checked out.” Rachel suggested.

  “There are at least two more James alphas. The family was once respected and honorable. I think there was inbreeding for a time because of the rarity of female wolves. It may take many generations to clean up their DNA.” Damon spoke for the first time.

  “That’s horrible.” Rachel said.

  “It is and now subsequent generations will pay for it.” Marissa noted. “But let’s get to the business at hand. I can find Abs and send a group to his lair. Now while they are not expecting it would be best. Who will go?”

  “I’ll go, but Megan must stay home.” Rachel said and Reese nodded his approval.

  “I’ll go too.” Reese said and I echoed it.

  Megan said nothing she just wore her pouty face. She knew she couldn’t go, but she wanted to. Reese pulled her in for a hot as hell kiss that made her eyes glaze over. Now that Megan was taken care of, it was time to see who was on the team.

  One of the guards stepped forward. “This is Tudor and he’s a witch. Between us, Abs won’t stand a chance.” Marissa claimed.

  “I can’t wait.” Rachel admitted. “It’s time to put him in his place and free the females he’s been torturing.”

  “He’s tortured females?” Tudor asked shocked.

  “The asshole is draining their powers and raping them.” Megan added.

  “I was one he captured, but the bastard waits until the female is too drained to fight him. I escaped before that fate worse than death.” Rachel explained as Tudor looked at her with sympathy. “He did steal some of my magic, but I’ve regained it with time.”

  “What a coward!” Tudor insulted. “We will take him down and free his victims. Why hasn’t the council acted on this sooner?”

  “They said too much manpower was tied up with Chief and after he was caught, they said those on that case needed a break.” Rachel admitted.

  “I was on that case, but they should have given us a choice. I would never had allowed this to continue.” He stated.

  “We won’t allow it now. Let’s go into the living room where we can move about. Do you have what we need?” Marissa asked.

  “Abs claimed I was his. Here is what I wore the day he tried to reclaim me.” Rachel offered.

  “Will that work?” Tudor asked.

  “It should. Take that as a lesson in being careful what you lay claim to. Let’s begin the finding.” Marissa declared. She placed the clothing in the empty fireplace and lit it. The pants and top burst into flames as if it had ben doused in gasoline. The scent of something burning and strong magic filled the air. Marissa wrote something down and showed it to all assembled. “Anyone familiar with this place?”

  “I know of it.” Rachel admitted. “I grew up there. Why would he choose to live there?”

  “Living in a house you once lived in makes his magic sense you easier. He’s serious about reclaiming you and willing to do whatever it takes.” Marissa explained. “It’s time to go.”

  In a flash we were gone, but the form of travel made me ill. “Stan, are you okay?” My mate asked and I nodded, but it was a lie.

  Damon and the other nonwitches looked equally affected. The witches, on the other hand, didn’t seem bothered at all. “Take deep breaths if the trip bothered you. We need you at top form. We need to break into search groups. Free witches, but call in back up if you see that male witch.” Marissa directed.

  Naturally I went with my mate and so did Reese. He had a bone to pick with Abs and his wolf showed in his eyes as we entered the large old farmhouse. Rachel led us to the basement to look for survivors. The stink hit us as soon as she opened the door. It was the odor of rotting flesh, death stalking near, and utter despair.

  She led the way down those steps even though I wanted to go first to see to any threats. There were none, only the sad remains of a witch in one cage and four more that would die without immediate intervention. My mate was selfless to a fault and touched each of the four living witches with a glowing hand. Even a werewolf could see the gift of magic when it was given away. Rachel had bought them the time to get where they could receive full treatment.

  It came at a cost and she looked tired and weak. I wasn’t sure if she could cast a spell now if her life depended on it. Reese and I each carried a witch up the stairs, careful to cause them no harm. Marissa’s face when she saw them was terrifying. She snapped pictures of each of them.

  “They need to see what they allowed to happen.”

  “One didn’t make it. I gave each of the survivors a small gift of magic.” Rachel admitted.

  “I can see that. It may save their lives. I’ll go get one of the others.” Tudor said.

  “I’ll come with you.” Damon offered.

  “I’ll send these two through first.” As Damon and Tudor fetched the other two living witches, Marissa sent Reese, the two witches, Rachel, and I home. I could only hope they encountered no trouble.

  We arrived in Reese’s living room exactly where we had been when we left. Reese laid the witch he carri
ed down on the sofa and went to get Megan, who from the aroma wafting through the air, was cooking. She did that when she was nervous, worried, or both.

  “They need to be washed and fed as quickly as possible. We need to get them to a bathtub one at a time. Washing the black magic off them should help.”

  “I’ll carry one of them to the nearest bathtub, but I won’t stay in there when you undress them.”

  Okay, let’s take this one.” Rachel pointed to the nearest one.

  I carried her to the bathtub feeling torn between my desire to keep her modesty intact and guilt that my already exhausted mate was doing more work than I was. Gently, I lowered the blonde into the bathtub which already had warm water coming out of it. Her clothes were terrible and would be thrown away.

  “Go, find some broth for the other witch and send Marissa to me as soon as she comes back.”

  I nodded and left quickly. Walking to the kitchen, I sat down for a minute to absorb all that I had seen. Megan looked at me, but said nothing. “Rachel wants something like broth for the victims. Have you seen the one in the living room?”

  Megan nodded, but tears were in her eyes. I didn’t blame her, I felt like crying too when I looked at any of the survivors. The look of the dead witch would stay with me forever. Pouring some thick broth into a bowl, she handed me a big spoon;

  “You’ll have to feed her. Make sure it’s not too hot and wait between each spoonful of broth to make sure her stomach can handle it.”

  I nodded my understanding and as I started to go, she tossed me a cloth that I caught in the hand that was holding the spoon. This job wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought. Once in the living room, I sat and pulled her head onto my lap. I blew on the broth until it was just warm, then I opened her mouth a little and let the broth trickle in. I did this three times before Marissa and the others arrived.

  “Marissa, Rachel was hoping you would help her in the bathroom.”

  “I can do that. You guys take care of our girls.”

  Looking at Tudor and the other males, I saw nervousness in their eyes. They felt helpless and didn’t know what to do. “Two of you can go in the kitchen and get broth from Rachel. These ladies need to have some sustenance.”

  Two of the guards hurried on their way. Tudor sat down and held one of the witches the same way I did the one in my lap. He gestured to the other guy to do the same. When the bowls of broth came out, he waved one hand over each of them. “This makes it room temperature.” The other guy nodded and started to feed one of the witches.

  “Do one spoon at a time and wait in between in case they can’t tolerate it.” I instructed. My cup was almost empty and I hoped the ladies in the bathroom were doing alright. Finishing the cup, I handed it to one of the guards that was standing. “Take this to Megan and see what I need to do next.”

  He hurried away much happier running errands than dealing with injured people. I couldn’t blame him. The women were in bad shape and the scent of death clung to them even with the help my mate had given them. She and Marissa came out carrying the patient between them she was dressed in a thin nightgown, probably Megan’s.

  One of the guards hurried over to carry her to the nearest empty bedroom. I picked up the one I held and carried her to the bathtub. Once Marissa was in the room with her, I left to get some broth for the woman who had been taken to the bedroom. It was good that Reese had such a big house because all his spare rooms were filled with guards stuck sleeping on his couches, not that anyone would complain. All the women were fed and only one had not tolerated the broth so Megan thinned it down with water. She managed to keep it down then.

  We all knew they were hanging by little more than a thread, but we were determined to see them through. We left around midnight with nothing to do but hope and pray. I knew Rachel had to take Maisy to work in the morning. My guys and I also had to work in Howlington so maybe I could pick her up. So many things were going on I could hardly keep up with it all.

  As soon as we were home, we took turns showering and went to sleep. When we woke up, I knew I looked as worn out as she did. At breakfast, everyone looked, but no one asked any questions. I gathered the males and took a couple new ones. Everyone wanted to work so I had no shortage of volunteers. We left the same time that Rachel and Maisy did, but she needed to take her this first time in case anything else was needed. My hope was that it would be smooth sailing and I crossed my fingers for them.

  All I could do now is try to finish up the current job, so we would all get paid. It wasn’t the kind of job I’d wanted to get, but it was the kind of job James had taken. We were cleaning out a barn and a couple of sheds. I’d told Rachel where we were working hoping she might stop by.

  We got to work and I put two males on the sheds and the rest on the barn. It was just beginning since we’d worked a few hours on it yesterday. I had them piling the stuff from the sheds into three piles. Stuff we found useful, recyclable items, and trash. Just before noon, Rachel came by and brought us food from the Chinese place down the road and several bottles of soda.

  There was water to wash with so everyone cleaned up and she fixed our plates and ate with us. “What are the piles for?”

  “They are trash, keepers, and recycling.”

  “Tell me you aren’t throwing that furniture in the trash.”

  I looked at the furniture she was referring to. “I’ll tell you anything you want to hear, Sweetie.”

  “The furniture needs to go back to the pack house.”

  “We don’t have anywhere to put it.”

  “We’ve been emptying the tents, put it in an empty one.”

  “Yes, Dear.” I said and the guys all laughed. I wasn’t sure what she wanted with dirty old broken furniture, but if it made her happy I was glad to do it. That left mostly burnable items and the client had a fire pit. After lunch I put two of the guys on burning trash. Two loaded up the furniture that Rachel wanted and hauled it to the pack house.

  They were back in an hour and they hauled off the load of recycling bringing me the money they got. We had another load of recycling by the time they returned and more trashy furniture. Maybe she preferred old furniture to flowers? Who was I to question her? I had guys burning trash as we went and if we stayed a bit late, we would finish this up.

  The job was done a little before six and he paid us a hundred for each shed and three hundred for the barn. We got two hundred more out of the recycling and my mate got two loads of dirty old furniture. I had eight guys working and gave them each fifty leaving me four hundred. I was Boss so I took a hundred and the rest went into things for the pack. The guys were thrilled to have some money in their hands and I was happy to make money for the pack even if it was the least I’d made in a day personally.

  None of this was about me. It was about giving these males back their pride and it was working. We headed home with a little cash in our pockets ready to impress the females. Today, Kristen and Liza had checked out the building Rachel was buying, but I had to work so they had gone alone. They would have spent the day there going over everything they would need done. It wasn’t only the males that were reclaiming their pride.

  When we pulled in the yard, Rachel was in front of one of the tents with an older male. They were working on several pieces of furniture and they had cleaned them. The items already looked much better now that they were free of dust and grime.

  “Hey, Stan. Garth is a furniture maker. Isn’t that incredible? We are going to fix these pieces up and use some for the pack and sell some. Do you have any teenagers looking to work part time?” Rachel asked.

  “We can put the word out to see. I’ve not seen you yet, Garth. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Haven’t had no reason to come round here. Old alpha was a bastard. One of the kids said things were better now and the alpha mate was looking for a furniture maker or a carpenter. I’m both. I had a business making cabinets before James took it away and run it into the ground.” Garth said.

>   “That won’t happen this time.” Rachel promised. “We have to start off slow, but the business will grow.”

  A cabinet maker would help my business a lot. Maybe he could work for me and build the business my mate wanted. If he couldn’t do both, Rachel would probably win since she had found him. I took my mate and headed into the house.

  “I’m glad you were here when I got home.”

  “I’m glad I was here too. It’s amazing he had so many talented people in his pack, but all he wanted to do was keep them under his thumb.”

  “He had a crazy bloodline. I hope the council checks out the other two James alphas. Just in case.”

  “I think Damon intends to do just that. I’m just worried that he won’t be able to take action if he finds problems. Look how long it took the wardens to do anything here. It took three mistreated females and you to start straightening this mess out.”

  “And you, Reese, Megan and many other people that are willing to help.”

  “Oh, I forgot to ask Maisy how her day went.”

  “She said it went great but she was tired and hungry. I think she’s begging Del for an early meal so she can go to bed. Tomorrow she has to go back at the same time, but I can drop her off if you have other things to do. It’s on the way.”

  Rachel leaned in and kissed me slowly and thoroughly. Some of the teenagers made cat calls, but I didn’t care. That kiss turned me on and I wondered if we had time before supper. I escorted her in the house to see. Del was cooking supper every night right now and breakfast was cereal, snack cakes, a sandwich, or leftovers. Whatever our people found handy and easy to fix and eat. The weekends would be different I hoped. I liked the idea of a nice family style breakfast where whether we worked the weekend or not, we could come together as a pack.

  Admittedly, I had not done a lot of things with my former pack, only the guys that worked with Reese as I did. Those guys and I had been through thick and thin together, but we had lived more like a bachelor’s club until Reese had mated and changed everything. Now I was about to mate too and who knew who might follow.